COLLEGE FOOTBALL DIARIES
By:Playbook.com
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
When you walk in the shadows of the most well known basketball conference in the nation, it’s difficult creating your own identity.
Give ACC football its props. They are branding an image that is leaving other football conferences green-eyed.
Last year the ACC sent an NCAA record 10 teams to bowl games and, since 2005, have produced more bowl teams than any conference in the nation. Its 41-17 (.707) mark in non-conference games last season was the best ever in ACC history.
NC State QB Russell Wilson leads the nation in interception avoidance with one INT in 275 pass attempts. As a result, Wilson was the first freshman signal caller to ever earn first-team ACC honors last year.
Virginia Tech leads the land in total team defense since 2004, allowing an average 263 YPG.
Yes, there is a lot to like about the ACC on the gridiron these days. Heck, if NCAA football gods ever wake up an employ a playoff, we might even find an ACC team making to the Final Four more during more than just March Madness.
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
While the BIG EAST CONFERENCE continues to come up big in bowl games (12-4 SU the last three years), the fact of the matter is the league continues to shrink in stature.
That’s because a dismal 15-25 ATS performance mark outside the conference last season watered down a sparkling 81-37 ATS effort the prior three years.
Where to turn in 2009? Our best suggestion would be to concentrate on the better coaches in this conference, while they are still here. There are a handful of real good ones to choose. Despite the fact that no team in the BIG EAST will be a legitimate threat for BCS title honors, there are coaches in this league that make a nice living beating the number. (See the College Coaches league inside The Handicapper’s Lounge at PLAYBOOK.com for more.
BIG 10 CONFERENCE
As we reported last year, the BIG 10 CONFERENCE has been an Ohio State love fest the last four seasons where the Buckeyes have gone 29-3 in conference play while capturing four straight titles.
That puts Ohio State in elite company, tying Michigan with four consecutive crowns. Better yet, OSU is the only team in its 112-year history to have stood alone atop the BIG 10 CONFERENCE four straight years.
A total of 26 all-BIG 10 players from last season return in 2009. In addition 10 of the 11 teams welcome back at least half of their starters, with Minnesota (18) and Indiana (17) leading the way. In addition, the top 6 QB’s in efficiency are back in 2009.
The BIG 10 will battle 20 non-conference bowl teams this campaign, seven more than last season.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
For all intents and purposes, the BIG 12 CONFERENCE has become a main player in the BCS picture.
The conference has proven that quality, not quantity, earns national championships while the loop continues to get stronger by the season. However, Oklahoma’s loss to Florida in last year’s BCS title game perpetuated a problem that has officials in the conference concerned.
The BIG 12 has fallen short is in bowl games where, since they expanded to a 12-team league in 1999, the conference is 38-39 SU and 31-44 ATS in post-season play. Worse, against bowl opponents with a win percentage of .750 or greater, the Big Dozen doesn’t get the job done, going just 12-21 SU and 8-25 ATS, including 3-14 ATS when laying points against teams of this ilk. Do yourself a favor and save that stat for the bowl games later this season.
A known haven for quarterbacks, two of the top three finishers in last year’s Heisman Trophy race, winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and runner-up Colt McCoy of Texas, figure to keep the focus on the BIG 12 regular season race. They will be pushed by the likes of Kansas’ Todd Reesing and Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson in the race for QB supremacy.
CONFERENCE USA
The CONFERENCE USA is 12 years old and like a youngster about to enter puberty, they are breaking out all over.
Four teams from the league reached the 70-point scoring plateau in a game last year. That represented twice as many that had scored that many points in CUSA history.
Teams in the league gained an average 401.8 YPG for the season, second only to the BIG 12 CONFERENCE in total yardage production in 2008. Leading the charge was Houston QB Case Keenum, the nation’s leader in total offense, who tossed for nearly 3 miles and 44 TD’s.
The CUSA was home to the most improved team in the land last year when Rice went from 3-9 to 10-3. Yes, it was a breakout year for this conference in 2008.
INDEPENDENTS
Like last year, just three teams make up the INDEPENDENTS, yet all three have a strong say on the participants in the 2009 National Championship BCS game when they take on no less than 20 combined opponents that landed bowl bids last season.
Rest assured, without a conference affiliation, this self-governing group holds plenty of veto power when it comes to dashing the dreams of many BCS Championship Game aspirants.
MID AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Entering its 63rd year of gridiron competition, the MID AMERICAN CONFERENCE will once again play a balanced schedule, meaning each team will play eight conference games in 2009. Let’s hope the results are more balanced that last year when Buffalo was the only team in the MAC East Division to finish the season with a winning record.
This is definitely a league that is wide open and one that likes to mix things up. Seven different teams that have appeared in the last four MAC Championship games while nine different MAC schools that have appeared in a bowl game in the last four seasons.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
Just in case you missed it last year… a geography refresher: ranging in altitudes from 7 feet to 7,220 feet, the MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE looks to be growing to new heights.
Utah is perched atop and of last year’s perfect season is ready to reclaim its position in the Conference pecking order. Meanwhile BYU and TCU just might have something to say about who sits where in the MWC this year. The bottom line is this mini-Conference is scaling to new levels.
PAC 10 CONFERENCE
On the heels of a brilliant 5-0 bowl season last year, the PAC 10 CONFERENCE features 146 starters (out of a possible 240, including kickers) returning for the 2009 campaign.
The league spotlights five 1000-yard running backs, including the top-three from 2008. New to the scene will be a pair of first-year head coaches, Chip Kelly at Oregon and Steve Sarkasian at Washington.
The question is whether anyone is capable of turning back the powerful Trojans of USC. The University of Spoiled Children have captured seven straight PAC titles but were hit hard by the NFL draft (team high 11 selections) and coaching defections.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
SECond to none.
That’s the SEC’s mantra and it’s hard to argue.
Consider, the SEC: has lead the nation in total attendance the last 27 seasons; owns the best non-conference win percentage 18 of the last 29 seasons, including 43-13 last year; has featured 4 teams in the BCS final Top 25 each of the last five seasons; has won more BCS bowl games (12) than any conference; features 4 current coaches that have won national championships.
Like we said, it’s pretty hard to argue with numbers like those.
SUN BELT CONFERENCE
If the SUN BELT CONFERENCE was a racetrack, they would running low-level claiming races.
Sure, one or two thoroughbreds surface each season and find their way to a stakes race (read: bowl game), but in sport where breeding is key, the SBC is a league filled with geldings.
Entering its 33rd season as a conference, the Sun Belt has had a modicum share of success of late. To put itself on a scale with other lightweight conferences, the Sun Belt points out the fact that it is 3-2 in bowl games the last three years and last season swept the MAC, winning all three games in head-to-head battles.
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Here’s another bar bet guaranteed to stack a few extra shot glasses in front of you’re your seat at the bar.
Next to the PAC 10, the SEC and the ACC, name the conference with the 4th best all-time win percentage in bowl games.
It’s not the BIG 10. Not the BIG 12, nor the BIG EAST. It’s the WAC, whose current team members’ .522 percentage in post-season play ranks the conference 4th best in the land.
Two new coaches make their debut in 2009 with DeWayne Walker (UCLA) taking over at New Mexico State and Gary Andersen (Utah) assuming the reins at Utah State.